I"m thinking she will not end up with any of the boys and just continue to be a better karuta player.

And you sir/mam' would be correct. I've never seen a show like this one where she actually ends up with someone- she's going to play karuta until her heart explodes because she is has a brain wried only for this game (is there anything else about her character that we actually know? She's totally one dimensional). The end.

She so disconnected from reality, she never seems to realize a) she has two guys fawning over her, b) everyone absolutely loves her and/or c) she is super model gorgeous.

I love this show, it is one of the better anime(s) I've seen in a while... I'm just dreading the same'ol same'ol predictable non-ending.

I"m thinking she will not end up with any of the boys and just continue to be a better karuta player.

And you sir/mam' would be correct. I've never seen a show like this one where she actually ends up with someone- she's going to play karuta until her heart explodes because she is has a brain wried only for this game (is there anything else about her character that we actually know? She's totally one dimensional). The end.

She so disconnected from reality, she never seems to realize a) she has two guys fawning over her, b) everyone absolutely loves her and/or c) she is super model gorgeous.

I love this show, it is one of the better anime(s) I've seen in a while... I'm just dreading the same'ol same'ol predictable non-ending.

Now on the latest episode Ichaya seems to be getting less one dimensional about karuta at least and learning some new techniques. But as you pointed out, she is just too focused on Karuta to think about the boys now, I was myself like that with soccer at that age, so I can see that being the case.

Taichi always looks for Chihaya, even though he was such a bully to Arata when they were young, but they were just kids, they didn't know how to control themselves so we can't blame him for that. We can see clearly that Taichi is deeply in love with Chihaya and anytime i see him looks at Chihaya, it makes my heart tight. I hope chihaya can see how much Taichi cares for her. but it might not end up like i wish. Well, Chihaya is so naiive. She cares for both Taichi and Arata as friends ( i think ). In my opinion, she doesn't know what love is yet. Everything around her are people she calls "friends" and Karuta. She doesn't how a relationship is like. But, i really really really hope that she has a special feeling for Taichi.
This is the ending i hope and imagine : one day when Chihaya becomes the Queen, Taichi confesses his feeling to her, then he kisses her forehead. Chihaya's surprised and gives a long pause. Taichi waits for her response but she's not telling him any word yet. He starts to give up, then turns away. Chihaya suddenly grasps his hand. Taichi turns his head back and sees that Chihaya is holding her tears up. Taichi still doesnt know what she means but keeps staring at her. Then after few seconds Chiahaya hugs Taichi tight, Taichi's surprised at first but pulls his hands and holds her tight in his chest. After a minute, Taichi pulls her out , Chihaya's tears make her face wet. And ...and.. and... Their eyes are met. Taichi starts to kiss her lips, and Chihaya closes her eyes and let him kiss as well ! -the end- I really really love this ending and I really really love this anime! Love TaichixChiahaya forever.

Whoa hey there are WAY too many people hating on Taichi for being a bully. Yeah, it was wrong and I got just as mad at him as anyone else, but if all you see is that the writers are saying "nobody's perfect" then you're probably missing the rest. Taichi was wound so tight because his mom was a demanding B. Chihaya was a free spirit who didn't seem to have a care in the world. Basically, he probably saw in her who he wished to be himself, and fell in love. He had a child's (very serious) crush on Chihaya, and kids are probably the cruelest age to have that kind of thing because they don't know how to handle it yet. If anything, Taichi's immediate aversion to Arata shows how desperate he was not to lose Chihaya. He reacted violently because (this is just my theory) his crush was more than a kid could elegantly handle. We take his later maturity (like when he shows her the birthday text from Arata when he could have kept it to himself) for granted. That's not something you have when you're a kid. He's putting her happiness over what he wants, which is for her to feel for him the way she seems to feel about Arata. Which is way more than Arata has ever done for her.

As for the romance thing, I think it's going to be incorporated into Chihaya's love for Karuta. Remember how she finally had a moment after Taichi got her to simmer down at the Karuta "camp" at his house? She finally realized she's got to pay attention to more than just Karuta. It's gonna be slow but she's already having odd little reactions to Taichi. If Arata gets his butt back to Tokyo, my prediction (subject to change lol) is that Taichi is going to become hopeless and dejected and possibly violent (though I think he's grown up enough now to swallow most of it), because Chihaya will act as obsessed as ever. Then after the excitement blows over she's going to realize FINALLY that Taichi's been there all along. I'm crossing my fingers because the moody personality with dark hair (Arata) always seems to win out in every other anime/manga there ever was, and I like Taichi better. He's not nearly as stereotypical and he's more dynamic. Plus he's been in love with Chihaya since forever. Go Taichi!!

for_great_justice had some awesome stuff to say and I completely agree with her. I also think Chihaya's admiration for Arata is outdated now and that she hasn't matured enough to realize it. She's the type of personality to go full steam ahead at all times and not stop to realize what's going on around her. I think that's part of what the series will teach her...which to me says that when she slows down a second she will realize that she's had this mental image of Arata in her head all along that isn't really who the person is, and part of that realization will be that Taichi loves her as more than a friend and she just MIGHT love him back. Mwahahahaha ;-)

Generally agree with the above. Love isn't always fair, but, for lack of a better way to put it, I think Taichi, with his devotion and care for Chihaya, has "earned" his place by her side. If she ends up with anyone, I do hope she chooses Taichi.